Lost Time
by The-Bookkeeper-96
Summary: Another summer at Horae Manor begins, but before Joe and Tessa get the chance to train, they are sent out on a mission to explore the magic capital of the universe, Mancika. Rumors of illegal magic conversion spread throughout the city, and Joe and Tessa need to locate those responsible. But after the events of last summer, Joe isn't eager to work with his Aether partner...
1. Chapter 1

**"It is said that all the Greats are connected. Some even believe they are one soul inhabiting nine bodies that is reincarnated every generation. I, however, in studying the history of the most closely connected Greats, those that control Aether and Time, believe that they are not one soul. Rather, they are inimitable individuals who are highly bonded to one another through the magics that unite us all. However, there is evidence to suggest that the Greats possess the ability to communicate with the Greats of the past." Excerpt from **_**A History of the Horae Greats, Introduction **_**by Petra Abell**

* * *

Last night I dreamt I was a king again. At least, I assume I was a king. I suppose I could have been an emperor or a lord or something, but I'm going to go with king for now.

As always, the dream starts like any other dream, a bunch of nonsensical scenes that somehow make sense while you're asleep, but when you wake up, you realize how crazy it all was. This time, I only got to enjoy a few bites of delicious marshmallow pizza with Babe Ruth before I was pulled away into the throne room.

The room looks the same as it always does. I sit up high on a marble throne painted green. There are nine other thrones spread out on either side of me all painted different colours. On the floor beneath me, an intricately carved flower is engraved into the tile.

I have no idea what kind of flower it's supposed to be. A lotus, maybe? I don't pay enough attention in biology class to know all my plants. And it's not like knowing that kind of stuff is going to help me out in life anyway. Sam would disagree and argue that everything we learn in school is important, why else would they teach it to us?

I am not alone in the throne room, and unfortunately, it's not Babe Ruth with the rest of our pizza. Instead, I gaze forward and see a long line of people each holding a random object. One man is holding a golden trophy. A woman farther down the line is leaning on a grandfather clock. The first person in line is holding an hourglass, the sand slowing slipping into the bottom. That's the only thing that changes with these dreams. The hourglass seems fuller and fuller every night. For a time traveller, that might be a bad omen. For the future Warp Wizard, it's definitely a bad omen.

One by one, the people in line vanish into nothing starting at the back of the line. They all fade until it's just me and the hourglass holder. I open my mouth to ask them all of my questions, but no sound comes out.

Sometimes, we stare at each other for what feels like hours. Other times, only a few minutes. But the dream always ends the same way.

The room darkens, shrinking down on us. The darkness creeps closer and closer until it's suffocating me, and I wake with a scream.

* * *

My body lurches up, my hand flying to my chest to make sure my heart is still inside. I take several steadying breaths as I glance around my room. Everything is exactly the way I left it the night before. Clothes in a messy pile by the door, backpack flung under my desk, and _The Book_ sits on my nightstand, unopened.

Sighing in relief, I fall back onto my pillow. How many people wake up each day and are glad to stop dreaming?

I blindly fumble around for my phone and eventually find it on the floor. Before I even turn the screen on, I know exactly what time it is: eight thirty-six. If I really concentrate I can feel the seconds tick by. My phone screen blares to life and confirms what I already know.

After a whole year of being "magically awakened", all I have to show for it is always knowing the time and having disturbingly bright green eyes that practically glow in the dark.

My eyes wander back to _The Book_, landing on two small slips of paper sticking out of the top. Without thinking about it, I pull them out and read the words that I've seen a hundred times before.

_Dear Joe,_

_Sorry to leave in mid-warp. I had some urgent business to attend to._

_~ Uncle Joe_

_P.S. Congratulations on graduating to the next level! You are now a time page._

The edges of the letter are worn thin and torn. The pocket watch that came with my promotion rests next to _The Book_. Uncle Joe's been missing for over a year, and despite my best efforts, I can't find any clues as to where he is. It's becoming harder to believe he's okay and still alive.

I grind my teeth together. I know he's alive. My uncle is too clever and good at magic to be dead. He's just busy on some magic mission or something. Maybe even fighting off my other uncle, Mad Jack, who's also been MIA the past year.

I unfold the other piece of paper I keep stored in _The Book_. The gold script on the invitation is just as dazzling as it was when I first opened it last summer. I don't look at this one as often, other than a few random attempts to warp back to Horae Manor, it pretty much stays in my book.

_Dear Mr. Joseph Arthur,_

_We would like to formally invite you and your closest friends to Horae Manor. A place for the magically inclined and gifted. Where people like you can learn to hone your craft._

_We request that you join us at your earliest convenience. Time is of the essence._

_Sincerely,_

_WW_

Now that normal school is officially done for the year, I'm going back to Horae Manor soon. Soon as in today, and I have no idea how I'm supposed to get there. Hopefully, the letter will do its thing again, and Fred, Sam, and I will just be warped there. But something told me that wasn't going to work this time. Rowena and Cassius probably expected me to warp myself there, maybe like some kind of test? To see if I'd been practising my time magic while I was away or reading any of the books Cassius lent me.

Had I been practising my magic? Yes, not that I'd had any real progress. Had I read any of the books Cas told me to? Yes. Well… not exactly. To be fair, I did skim through them, but there was a lot to read and take in. My normal school teachers wouldn't really understand if I skipped out on their assigned homework to do magic homework instead. Not that I could ask them to find out. I really hope my summer at Horae doesn't start with a pop quiz.

Maybe I could do a little last-minute cramming before it was time to go. I have a lot to learn if I want to catch up with Tessa.

The thought of my Aether partner makes me frown. She had gotten to Horae first because my letter had been sent to the wrong person. She also seemed to be just naturally gifted with magic. She could already tear herself pretty much anywhere she wanted and could manipulate space to create mazes to confuse and trap people. People like me.

I think back on everything that had happened last summer. Had I overreacted with Tessa? Maybe a little, but she had proven herself to be untrustworthy and selfish. We went from friends to enemies pretty quickly after that. Part of me wishes I could change out partners. I really don't want to be stuck with Tessa for the rest of my life.

I collapse back on my bed with a heavy sigh. This summer hasn't even started yet, and I'm already done with it.

* * *

Time passes by quicker than I want it to. Maybe Cas can show me how to change that. Before I know it, it's after four in the afternoon and Fred and Sam are knocking on my door. Like always, Fred saunters into the room without waiting for a reply.

I shut the book that I've been staring at all day, the words still swimming before my eyes. I'd barely made a dent in it. Cas had given me five thick books packed with magical knowledge. There was a whole other world out there filled with magic users, literally. It was called Mancika. And there are more kinds of magic than just space and time. There are ten in total. Or was it nine? All the details were blurred together in my mind. I somehow had even more questions than I did before I started learning about magic and reading about its history.

I slipped the book into my backpack along with all the others I didn't read. My Warp Wizard mentor will not be happy with me.

I turn around to greet my friends, but Fred beats me to it. "Hey, dude. How excited are you right now? I am so ready to get back to Horae Manor. Man, I bet Cassius and Rowena have some amazing magic kung-fu skills they're going to show us this year. I mean, you guys saw how well Arwen fought off that drake last summer. I can't wait to kick some magic monster butt."

I shake my head at him. "You just can't stand that a Red Sox fan is stronger and cooler than you."

His cheeks flush. "She is not!"

"_Sure_."

Fred crashes on to my bed, mumbling something to himself that I can't fully hear. But I'm sure it's something about how much the Red Sox suck, and why anyone would be a fan of them over the Yankees is insane.

I nod to Sam, who smiles at me in greeting. "I'm actually pretty excited to head back too. Did you know Horae Manor has a library? I can't wait to learn about all the science of magic and history of it all."

"The science of magic?" I raise an eyebrow at him. "I don't think there is any science. It's magic. Kinda the opposite."

"Of course there's science. Nothing can break the rules of physics. Not even magic."

I roll my eyes, deciding not to argue. With Sam, you can't really convince him that he's wrong.

I grab the letter off my desk, hoping for something to happen. Of course, nothing does. Time to face the other problem I've been avoiding: how to get back to Horae Manor.

"You don't know how to get us there, do you?" Sam asks, guessing my thoughts.

I blush. "I totally do. I just need a second to, uh, figure out how to do it."

"We're never going to get back there, are we?" Fred turns to Sam, who nods in response.

"Hey! I can do this. I am the future Warp Wizard after all. Just give me a moment."

"And what I great Warp Wizard you'll be," Sam sighs.

"Oh, I don't know, I think with a little training Joe could be a great Warp Wiz. Of course, with me by his side, we'd be a swell pair," a new voice says.

We all jump. I slam my knee against the bottom of my desk, hissing in pain, and gingerly try to massage it away. My eyes narrow at the intruder. A mix of emotions fight it out in my chest. Anger ultimately wins out.

Tessa giggles from where she's perched on my window. "Missed you too, bunny."

"How did you get here?" Fred asks.

"The same way I get around everywhere. Magic. Duh." She flips her auburn hair over her shoulder and slides into my room. Her eyes roam around, inspecting everything, and land on my Houdini poster. "Cute," is all she says. Whatever, it's not like I care what she thinks.

"Thanks," I say dryly. "Why are you here?"

She spreads her arms out wide, ever the showwoman. Her signature red leather jacket is like a cape on her. "Isn't it obvious? I'm your ride to Horae Manor. Seeing as you and Cas haven't started any real training yet, you can't exactly warp yourself there."

I press my lips together and decide to keep quiet. This summer, I'm going to start my magic training, and by the end of it, I'll be just as good as her. No, better than her. I had so many questions for Cas, and I'll finally be practising magic. Real magic. Tricks that I can use to find Uncle Joe.

"So, are you ready to go? Cas is kind of a bluenose when it comes to being on time. As if he can't just make more of it." Tessa rolls her eyes.

I sling my backpack over my shoulder and stand up. "Yeah, I guess." truthfully, I'm just as excited as Fred and Sam are to return, but I'm not planning on letting my guard down around Tessa. I square my shoulders and stare at my Aether partner. We're supposed to be partners for life, but neither of us signed up for this. We can be civil with each other, but until I know I can trust her, I have no desire to be her friend.

She stares back, frowning. I almost feel bad for her. Almost. "Are you going to be like this all summer?" she asks, guessing my thoughts. "You know we're stuck with this for the rest of our lives, right?" She gestures between the two of us, referring to our Great Wizard commitment. "And I did apologize."

Fred wraps his arm around my shoulders, pushing me over with his sudden weight. "Joe will be fine. He's just a little butt-hurt over everything that happened last time. He'll get over it."

I shove his arm off of me. "We should get going. It's already four thirty-six."

"What? No exact second this time?" Sam teases me, drawing attention to my weird ability.

I look down at the ground and can feel my face heat up. So far, none of my new abilities had proven useful for anything other than being teased by my supposed friends.

Tessa tilts her head, her purple eyes never leaving my green ones. "Would you like to know our exact latitude and longitude coordinates right now? Or how about our exact position within the infinite space-time continuum?" She shrugs. "Knowing what time it is seems better than that. At least you'll never be late to anything."

"And yet, he was still tardy to math class almost every day this semester."

I shoot a glare at Sam, mainly to distract myself from Tessa. Coming to my defence now means nothing. "Can we just go already?"

Tessa pulls out her sabre, the Focus she uses whenever she tears. "Fine by me. I'm starving, and they'll be serving dinner soon enough."

I can practically see Fred's mouth watering. He remembers the feast from last summer just as well as I do. To be fair, I don't think I've ever had more delicious food in my life.

Encouraged by the growls in our stomachs, Sam, Fred, and I stand next to Tessa, ready to be pulled into our next adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

**"Magical fates are somewhat of an oxymoron. Fate is a predestined experience that cannot be avoided. Magic is an unexplainable force that does everything in its power to defy all rules and expectations." - Mancikan Philosophy**

* * *

Tearing is just as awful as I remember it being. The sensation of being pulled in a thousand different directions, spinning through the air uncontrollably, and finally, being squished back together in the tightest ball imaginable. I nearly vomit on the floor when we land.

Knees shaking, I brace onto the person next to me to keep from falling. Too late, I realize that it's Tessa, and I am far too unstable to let go of her. I force away my discomfort. I can trust her to not let me fall. I think.

She chuckles behind her hand, attempting and failing to hide her amusement. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Unless you've got a weak stomach. Arwen still gets nauseous from time to time."

I choose to not tell her the number of times I've nearly vomited just from warping before, and warping was nowhere near as bad as tearing. "Doesn't matter, by the end of this summer, I won't need you to tear me anywhere anymore. I'll be able to warp myself wherever I want."

She sighs. I catch a glimpse of her lowered eyes and a frown before she turns away. "Whatever you say, partner."

My strength finally returns to my legs, and I'm able to push myself away from her. The lobby of Horae Manor looks exactly like I remember. Tall marble pillars line the walls, and in between them, portraits of the past Warp and Aether Wizards are hung high and proud. At the end of the hall, a grand staircase spirals up towards more rooms. Most of which I didn't get the chance to explore last time I was here.

The air feels more alive this time around. Maybe it's just because my magical senses are awakened now, but the buzz all around me is electrifying. It courses through me. I close my eyes and breathe it all in, enjoying the sensation.

I open my eyes to find everyone staring at me. "What?" I ask, feeling defensive. Can't a guy just enjoy some magical air in peace?

"Dude, you're glowing."

Suddenly, I'm aware of the tingling sensation in my palms. I raise my hands up. I shouldn't be surprised, and yet, I jump back anyway, rapidly shaking my hands and wiggling my fingers. The green glow doesn't fade. I try wiping it off onto my jeans. Nothing.

"Just pull it back in," Tessa offers. "Your powers clearly haven't settled yet and coming back to a place with such a strong connection to time must be sending them into overdrive."

"How am I supposed to pull magic light into me?"

"You just do it. Or have you forgotten that you have the ability to control and manipulate time energy?" She crosses her arms. "This used to happen to me all the time. Just think of it as magical puberty."

The thought of magical puberty makes me cringe, as if actual puberty wasn't bad enough, but I do as she says. The energy around my palms feels like an extension of my hands. I curl my fingers into a tight fist, pulling the magic in as well. The glow slowly fades away, and the tingling sensation in my palms crawls back into my chest.

"Thanks." It hurts me to say it.

"No problem." Tessa offers me a small smile. I only nod in return.

Footsteps echo down the walls, breaking up the awkward tension. Cassius and Rowena enter the room and calmly make their way over to us.

"Children! Perfect timing." Cassius' face is flushed, and his smile looks forced. I glance at Rowena, who's wearing a similar expression.

"Oh? Is dinner ready already? Because I am starving." Tessa moves to head into the dining hall but stops when Rowena grabs her by the shoulder.

"Not exactly. There's been a slight change of plans."

"You're friends are more than welcome to go to dinner. Arwen and Juniper have just sat down to eat, but you two will be joining us for an impromptu meeting. There's a lot we need to discuss."

Tessa's shoulders drop. "Already? We just got here."

I perk up. Why is Tessa so disappointed by this? We could eat dinner later. They were probably going to take us in to do some training. My excitement dulls. Or to see if we did our homework while we were away. The heavy weight of all the books in my backpack reminds me that I did not. Magic is not all fun and games. Which really sucks, because that's exactly what it should be.

Cas finally lets his forced smile drop. "We have some news to discuss with you two."

* * *

I get that the whole theme of Horae Manor is time and space, but a whole room filled with clocks and stars seems a bit much.

My vision sweeps across the room. Clocks of all shapes and sizes decorate the walls, and high up above us, an inky black sky filled with golden stars illuminates the room. Somewhere in the corner, a cuckoo clock goes off. The only other furniture in the room is a large desk sitting directly in the center. The layout reminds me of the All Father's temple, where I was awakened last summer. I have no idea what this place is but given the measures we had to go through to get here, it must be important.

Cassius and Rowena had led Tessa and me through a maze of hallways that I didn't even think could fit inside this place. I immediately pushed my doubt away. Magic could make anything possible. I should really be used to that by now. Our mentors must have traveled this path a thousand times. They knew which turns to take without hesitation. If they hadn't led us through it, there was no way Tessa and I could have found our way out.

When we finally reached the end of the maze, a short staircase led us up to a solid wooden door, perfectly smooth except for two symbols etched into the center. The one on top was a small green diamond shape trapped inside a larger square, with the corners of the diamond, touching the sides of the square. A cross ran through both shapes, connecting them to the outline of the circle. The other symbol directly below the first one was a purple square fitted inside a diamond, with a cross running through both and connecting them to the circle surrounding the shape. When I first arrived at Horae Manor, I had no idea what those two symbols were. Now I recognized them as the symbols for time and space magic.

Cas placed his hand on the time magic symbol as Ro placed hers on the space magic symbol. Their hands glowed with pulsing green and purple lights, and the symbols responded by doing the same. I heard no click or any indication that the door was unlocked, but it swung open to let us in.

And now, Tessa, Cassius, Rowena, and I all stood in a circle. No one spoke, as if Cas and Ro were waiting on Tessa and me to start this impromptu meeting that they had called us in for.

Finally, with a sigh, Rowena looks to Cassius and asks, "Are you sure about this? There's still time."

"They have a right to know," Cassius responds like Tessa and I aren't standing right here in front of him. Like he's not intently staring right at us. "And you know there's not that much time left."

"Care to fill us in?" Tessa crosses her arms and flicks her eyes back and forth between Cas and Ro. "Or we just supposed to stand here and act like it's normal for us to be pulled away from dinner into a room of clocks?"

As much as I hate to agree with her, she has a point. I want to know what's going on. Why drag us away from our friends with such urgency if they weren't going to say anything?

Ro gestures to us with a full arm swoop, as if telling Cas: _you've got your cake, now eat it too_. She leans against the desk and stares up at the sky.

"I just… wouldn't you want to know?" He looks at his sister. His eyes bore into her.

She ignores him and looks at us again. This time, her eyes are filled with sorrow. "Not if I still had my innocence. I'd want to hold on to that as long as I could."

Tessa drops her arms. "I don't like where this is going."

A heavy feeling settles in the pit of my stomach. "Maybe if Ro thinks this is such a bad idea, we should-"

_Tick._

Who knew one simple sound could be so loud? Tessa and I both flinched from the sudden noise. The sound continued to reverberate throughout the massive chamber. Cassius and Rowena only frowned in response, as if it was only a minor inconvenience to have your ears blown out.

"What was that?" I finally manage to ask. There were over a hundred clocks in this room and that _tick_ could have come from any of them, but my eyes were drawn to one clock in particular.

A normal-sized and somewhat simple-looking grandfather clock stands off to the side. Everything about it looks normal except for the pendulum which is shaped like a skull with hourglasses where the eyes should be. The clock face glows green and mist of the same colour pours out of the sides of the black wood. The mist slowly fades as the last of the echoes from the _tick_ die out. The time reads five-o'-one according to the clock, but my internal senses tell me the local time is actually six thirty-three in the evening.

I groan, "Why do we have a death clock?"

My mentor rubs his hands together and grumbles under his breath, "Technically, it's a doomsday clock."

"A what?" Tessa gazes at Rowena, as if she'll start laughing and say this is just some weird Great Wizard initiation.

Rowena sighs. "It's the reason we called you two here. Cas seems to believe you need to hear the whole truth of the matter. I like to think that you two deserve more time to prepare before we drop such heavy news on you."

"Prepare for what exactly?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Cassius finally looks up at us again. "Doomsday. Your destiny."

"Our destiny is doomsday?" Tessa and I exchanged nervous glances.

"As in to save the world from it, or cause it?"

"That remains to be seen." Now it was Ro and Cas's turn to share a nervous look.

"All we know is that five years ago this clock came to life. It's been progressing at about an hour a year. Once it reaches midnight-"

"Are you saying we're seven years away from the end of the world?"

"Not just the world. The entire space-time continuum."

"Haven't you been listening to the news? All those artifacts that are disappearing from museums? They're not being stolen. They're literally vanishing because the times they were created are gone."

"Gone? How can time just disappear?" The news is hard for me to grasp. I barely understood my math teacher half the time. How was I supposed to comprehend all this?

"Space and time are slowly decaying. Starting from the beginning of time and spreading closer to the present. If the clock is already at five o'clock. That means almost half of all time that's ever existed is gone."

"And you two are fated to end it."

A heavy silence settles over us. Tessa is the first to break it. "You said it started five years ago? Do you know what set it off?"

She doesn't make eye contact with anyone. Her gaze is locked onto the clock.

Rowena studies her. "No. We've been searching for answers, but we've yet to find anything. The rest of the council is aware of the issue, but since this is out of their fields, they're limited with what they can do."

"The council?" No one else in the room seemed confused by this. Why was I the only one left out? Was I really that behind in my training? "Like, a council of other magicians and wizards?"

Cassius nods. "The other Great Wizards. All nine of the magics are represented, plus there is a non-magic representative." He gives me a pointed look. "Did you read any of those notebooks I gave you?"

I blush and turn away. "I skimmed them," I mumble.

He sighs. "It's going to be a long night."

"Practicing magic?"

"What do you think?"

"You're going to make me read, aren't you?"

"Clearly, reading is not your strong suit." He clears his throat. "At least, it's not the best way for you to learn. We're going to try a different method. But first, dinner."


	3. Chapter 3

**"It is important that every magic wielder identify their weakness. And then learn how to guard it at all costs." _Principles of Magic, Chapter 6_ by Flynn Alvaro**

* * *

Dinner had been long and silent. Seriously, I'd been in libraries that were louder. Fred had tried to lighten the mood with several bad puns and jokes, but it just made everyone even more uncomfortable. Sam, Arwen, and Juniper prodded Tessa and me for information, but neither of us was in a talking mood after everything we had just learned. We needed more time to process it all.

I had hardly touched my dinner, and I'm regretting it now. My stomach rumbles so loudly, I'm sure everyone in the room can hear me. Which included Cas, who's sitting next to me, and Tessa and Ro, who were on the ground about twenty feet below us in what looked like a large high-school gym. Apparently, this was the training room. Designed for all of our magical learning needs. It was hidden behind a door underneath the grand staircase in the entrance hall.

Tessa and I had been forced to come here after dinner. Ro and Cas didn't want to waste any time in preparing us for what was to come. Given that the fate of the entire space-time continuum rested in our hands, I don't blame them.

Fred, Sam, Arwen, and Juniper, on the other hand, had been told they could do whatever they wanted to do. Fred had followed Arwen off to a different training area, designed for those who didn't have any magical abilities. Sam and Juniper had wandered off to the expansive library. The girls didn't seem too happy to have company, but they couldn't exactly say no. So they were stuck with them.

"I really am sorry to drop all this on you and Tessa. But you deserve to know the gravity of the situation." Cas drums his fingers on the balcony railing as he speaks. "I'm also sorry that we have to force you into training so quickly, but Ro and I have an emergency council meeting tomorrow evening, and those things can last for days. So if we don't do this now, who knows when we'll be able to work with you."

"Right, the council…" I bite my lip and hope he doesn't ask how much I actually read of his books.

"Just how much of those books did you read?"

Damn. "Uh, well, you see, the thing is my normal school classes were really tough this year, and I didn't really get a lot of free time to do any magic stuff."

He tilts his head back and sighs. "Can you at least tell me what the nine magics are?"

"Um…" I scratch my head thinking back on the small amount that I did read. "Well, there's time and space magic, obviously. And the other seven are the magics of life, death, nature, mind, body, creation, and the elements." I sit up a little straighter, proud of myself for at least getting that much.

"Correct. But what are their proper names?"

"Proper names?"

He sighs again. I'm beginning to worry that he'll push all the air out of his lungs soon. "The common way to refer to the different magics would be to call them the magic of time or the magic of the elements, but in more professional settings the correct way to refer to them would be using their proper names. For instance, the magic of time is temporamancy. Space is aethermancy. Life and death are animacy and necromancy respectively. Elemancy is the magic of the elements. Mundumancy is the magic of nature-"

"Oh, yeah!" I cut him off, excited to remember something else. "And cephamancy is magic of the mind. While corpomancy is the magic of the body. Then the magic of creation is fabricomancy."

A soft smile plays along his lips. "Exactly. I'm glad to see you read the first chapter at least. Now can you tell me the origin of them?"

I press my lips together, mind racing to see what I know, but nothing comes to me.

Cassius leans forward, looking down at Tessa and Rowena who are talking on the ground below. I glance down at them as well. From Tessa's grumpy expression, I can tell she's not happy to be here. She looks up at us, at me. Her scowl lessens, but only slightly.

"This should be interesting," Cas muses.

"What are they doing?"

"A little magic practice. Rowena seems to think Tessa will learn better with an audience. We'll see how this goes." He nods at Tessa, still looking up at us. She gives him a terse nod in return and says something to Rowena before walking off to the far side of the gym. Rowena walks to the other side.

My gaze settles on Tessa as she settles into her spot. With a flash, her hands spark to life, bolts of purple electricity sparking between her fingers. A purple glow radiates out from her body like a second skin.

"Wow," I mutter, unable to help myself. She makes it look so easy.

Cas chuckles. "And that's not even the most impressive thing she can do. Now let's see how well you learn with a live demonstration."

My head turns sharply to look at Cas. He doesn't actually expect me to listen to him drone on about magic history while there's a cool magic show going on in front of me, right?

I'm proven wrong again as he takes a deep breath and begins, "There are currently nine known magics in the universe. All of these magics came from raw magic, the All Father's power. Raw magic still exists today, and occasionally someone will be born with the ability to wield it, but it is a deadly, all-consuming power."

"Can people choose their power?" I ask, already more interested than I expected to be.

"What? Not happy with your time magic?" He frowns at me.

"No! That's not what I meant. I just-"

"Relax." His frown lifts into a smile. "It's okay. No, there is no natural way for someone to change their power. The magic you have is the magic you're born with."

"Are there any unnatural ways?"

His face darkens. "No." The quickness of his response easily betrays his lie.

"But you said-"

"Joe." All traces of Cassius' usual warmth is gone. "I admire your curiosity and eagerness to learn about all this, but some stones are better left unturned." He ends the discussion with that. Before I can think too much about it, he returns the conversation to its original topic. "The first magics created were Time and Space. From Time, the All Father created Animancy, Necromancy, Cephamancy, and Fabricomancy. From Space, he created the other three magics."

"Can people with the magic of time or space use those other magics?" My thoughts trace back to last summer, when Cassius healed my wounds after we returned from Cealus. He'd said we both had healing magic, just not as much as actual Animantists.

"To a degree, yes." Cass nods his head. "Because of this Space and Time magic is considered to be a higher tier of magic. It's more complicated than the others, but this in no way makes us superior to them." He gives me a pointed look at that. "Despite what some people may believe. All magics are equal to each other. They are all important in maintaining the balance of the universe.

"You're job as the Warp Wizard, the job for any of the Greats, is to protect the balance of the universe. This task is especially important for the Warp and Aether Wizards because their domains are so vast and affect everyone." Cassius' hands light up with magic. He creates an orb of green light. The orb shifts and transforms into a yin yang symbol. "There is a balance in everything. And if the balance is disrupted, everything falls apart." The yin yang symbol dissipates into the air. Just as quickly as it disappears, a new shape takes its place. The forms continue to change shape as Cas speaks, synching up with the words he's saying. "Balance comes in many forms. Good and evil. Love and hate. Life and death. Even as the Warp Wizards, we cannot change the past or alter the future to our benefit. If someone we love makes a bad decision or loses their life, we must honor the path of time, accept what has happened, and move on as best we can. It is also our duty to ensure that everyone in the space-time continuum does the same."

I try my best to smile and keep my eyes open. Magic is just like sports. You have to learn the rules of the game before you can play, but the rules of magic are kind of boring. Surely as the Warp Wizard I would be able to have some fun with it. Maybe just go back and make sure I pick the right lottery numbers once or twice.

The death clock and its ominous tick flash before my eyes. Oh, right. The fate of the universe is in my hands. Maybe I should be thinking about all this a bit more seriously.

I look back down at Tessa, surprised that Cas has been able to hold my attention for so long. She hasn't moved, but neither has Rowena. The girls simply stare at each other across the vast floor.

After a long, tense silence, Ro shakes her head. With a sweep of her hand, she sends a wave of violet energy racing towards Tessa. She raises her arms in an X in front of her face. Just before the wave crashes into her, she slices her arms down, parting the wave with a small gap just big enough for her to fit through. She tumbles through the hole and rolls to her feet, ever the acrobat. Her sabre flicks out beside her. Cutting it through the air, Tessa is gone in the blink of an eye.

Rowena apparently anticipates this reaction. She moves her hands through the air, fingers forming strange shapes, almost like she's speaking sign language.

The room rearranges itself before my eyes. I try my best to keep up with the transformation, but I'm lost and confused almost as soon as it begins.

The gym is half the size it was a second ago. The ceiling is almost touching my head now. Cas has to bend over to avoid hitting it. "I hate when she does that," he grumbles.

When Tessa reappears, she is only five feet away from Ro. By the shocked look on her face, I can tell this is not where she wanted to be.

Rowena immediately attacks her, lashing out with her fists and magic. Despite her lithe build, she's able to put a lot of strength into her movements. I have no doubt that she could knock me out in one hit.

Tessa does her best to dodge the quick punches, sliding back and forth, arms blocking her face.

This only makes Rowena attack harder, adding magic to her punches. A purple glow surrounds her fists.

Tessa jumps back out of the way. She uses her magic to propel herself through the air and jumps farther than any normal person should be able to. She spreads her hands out, palms facing the ground, the purple glow returning to her hands. Moments pass, but nothing happens.

Rowena presses forward, the light in her hands growing more and more intense. She throws them out in front of her, sending a laser of space magic flying straight towards Tessa.

Just before it reaches her, Tessa flings her arms up, and a shield of magical energy shoots up from the ground. Rowena's magic bounces off of it, flying back at her. She has no time to turn it off or redirect it before it hits her square in the chest and sends her soaring back. Purple flames dance along the floor at the place of impact.

Rowena manages to get to her feet, and with a wave of her hands, the flames die down, leaving only scorch marks on the ground in their place.

Tessa lowers her shield, breathing heavily as she stares down her mentor, who frowns at her in return.

"That was not what you were supposed to do." Ro's frown deepens. The smaller space allows me to hear their conversation better than I could before.

"Hey, I won, didn't I? Don't be such a sore loser." Tessa crosses her arms and looks away. The confidence in her voice is contradicted by the guilt on her face. She knows she messed up, but she's too stubborn to admit there's a problem.

I wonder what was supposed to happen. It all seemed like an impressive display of magic to me. Tessa did technically win the fight. So what was the big deal? Was there a specific spell or trick she was supposed to do?

"This sounds like something you two should discuss in private. If you wouldn't mind?" Cas says to his sister as he points to the ceiling, which is squishing his hair flat against his head.

"Of course. Sorry about that." Rowena pushes her arms away and up and the room returns to its normal size so fast, it makes me dizzy.

"Now, where were we?" Cas straightens his spine and fixes hair. "Oh, yes, balance. One of the many forms of balance is the partnership between the Warp and Aether Wizard. Which is why it is so important for the two to cooperate and be in perfect sync. For centuries, two people from almost every generation have been chosen as the protectors of the universal balance."

"Almost every generation? Were some of them skipped?"

Cassius goes on, ignoring my question. An annoying habit of his I really hope stops soon. "The Warp and Aether pair are complements to each other. One will excel where their partner falls short and vice versa. For example, what did you notice when watching Tessa practice?"

I think for a moment. Tessa's movements were graceful, and she was confident in every step. "She acted like she was on stage. Like she never left the circus."

"Well, yes," Cas chuckles. "But what did you notice about her attack style? Or lack thereof."

I look back down at the scorch marks on the floor. Was I supposed to know stuff about attack styles? I think back to our run-in with the drake at Cealus. Tessa had run and let Arwen do the fighting. She had managed to make a maze to confuse the drake and get us safely away from the city, but she hadn't fought anything in the process. "She didn't fight back… or attack at all really. She just defended herself and waited for opponents to take themselves out."

Cassius grins, and I can't help but feel proud again at another correct answer. I didn't exactly excel in any of my normal school classes, so doing well in magic school felt pretty good.

"Precisely. Tessa's strength is defense. Which as you saw, is still a pretty good battle strategy."

"Why doesn't she attack? Can she do any offensive moves?" Battle strategy is a new subject for me. It's not like it's part of a standard school curriculum. But I understand football, and the two don't seem that different.

"Oh, she definitely can, but for whatever reason, she chooses not to. It's been a long-going argument between her and Rowena. Tessa refuses to let her full magic potential out. Ro and I haven't been able to figure out why." Cas pauses, tapping his finger against his knee.

I clear my throat, bringing him back to the present with a start.

"Right, so we know that Tessa is strong in defense but weak in offense. Even if we hadn't seen your impressive displays of power in the past, we could assume you would be very strong in offense."

"But I'm probably weak in defense then, right?"

He smiles at me. "Weaker than Tessa, but we can still ensure you know how to defend yourself. Something you're going to be practicing soon."

"How soon?" I jump up in my seat. Finally, practicing magic, the whole reason I came here.

Cas snaps his fingers, and the next thing I know, we're standing in the gym, right next to Tessa and Rowena, neither of which seems surprised by our sudden appearance. From this new perspective, the room seems a lot more like an arena than a gym.

I turn to Cas, eyes wide. Does this mean…?

"Now."


	4. Chapter 4

**"Even the mightiest empires would crumble without a strong foundation to support them." - Mancikan Proverb**

Fred stumbles down the hallway after Arwen. "Would you slow down a little? I have to jog to keep up with you."

"You really can't take a hint, can you?" Arwen sighs in defeat and slows her long strides.

"Aw, come on. I thought we ended things on good terms last summer. We're all gonna have to be friends eventually." Fred really didn't understand what was up with these girls. Why did they hate him and his friends so much? Sure, last year had been a little chaotic, but they all made it out alive. He'd been trying to play nice, but they were being so difficult, always acting like they were better than him and his friends.

Then again, Arwen's a Red Sox fan. Maybe Fred shouldn't be trying so hard with her. He glanced at her, trying not to be obvious about it. He likes that Arwen doesn't look like most girls with their pounds of make-up and frilly clothes. Honestly, Arwen looked more like a boy than a girl.

But Fred's smart enough not to say that out loud.

"Look, just show me where this training room is, and I promise I won't bother you. I need someplace to keep in shape for football. Besides, I always listen to my music when I work out anyway."

"I just prefer to train alone."

"You won't even know I'm there. Promise." He puts his hand over his heart and gives her what he hopes is a trusting smile.

Arwen studies him out of the corner of her eye and purses her lips. "Fine. I guess it wouldn't be too terrible if you got in shape and learned how to throw a punch. It would definitely have been useful last summer."

"Get in shape?" Fred's smile drops. "I'm already in shape. I mean, look at me!" He flexes his arms to emphasize his point. Despite his best efforts, there isn't much to see.

She scoffs and rolls her eyes. "_Right_. Bulging muscles aside, do you know how to fight?"

Fred thinks about the brawls he's had with his brothers and all the times he's wrestled with Joe and Sam. He rarely won against his brothers, but he held his own against Joe and Sam well enough, but he's pretty sure Arwen wouldn't count those as real fights.

"I'll take your silence as a no then." She tries to hide her smug smile, but Fred sees it anyway.

"Fine. I don't know how to actually fight, and _maybe_ I'm not as fit as I should be. I don't suppose you'd be willing to teach me anything?"

Fred knows she's going to laugh at him and say no. After all, all of the girls were pretty far ahead of them when it came to this magic stuff. Besides, they'd been treating him and his friends like annoying younger brothers since they met, and Fred was all too familiar with how those relationships worked out. He didn't need another Mike in his life.

He's about to let the whole thing drop and find some other way to entertain himself tonight, but Arwen surprises him by saying, "Why?"

Fred blinks. The only response he'd been expecting was a 'no'. "Why what?"

"Why do you want to work out with me? Or hang out with me at all?" She stops walking to look him square in the eye. She crosses her arms. "What's your goal here?"

"Uh…" He really didn't know how to answer that. He liked Arwen. Out of the girls, she was the easiest to read. She never seemed like she was hiding anything, even when it came to how she felt about him. He respected that honesty, even if it hurt sometimes. She was also hands-down the toughest of the girls. Fred still couldn't believe she fought a drakon one on one with no weapons or armor. Plus, working out was always better when you had a friend to spot you at the gym.

"I guess I just enjoy your company." That didn't really explain his feelings, but it was true.

"Even though I'm a Red Sox fan?" Arwen's frown turned into a playful smirk.

"Yes, even though you're a Red Sox fan. It's not your fault you were born in Boston. If you were a New Yorker, I'm sure you'd love the Yankees."

Her gaze drops to the floor. "I don't think my dad would ever let that happen."

"Why?"

She chews her lip. "He's just a really big Red Sox fan. Runs in the family, you see."

"Sure." Fred totally understands that. Everyone in his family is a die-hard Yankees fan. He can't even imagine what they would do to him if he tried rooting for another team.

Arwen starts to move down the hallway again, taking a sharp right into a plain doorway. "All right. I guess I can teach you a thing or two."

"Really?" Even after all that, Fred is still surprised to hear her say it.

"Yes, really. You should come in before I change my mind."

Fred hurries in the room after her, excited to see what kind of cool magical training gear he would be able to use. He could picture fancy machines that would let him work out all parts of his body at once. Or maybe even enchanted armor that fought him in hand-to-hand combat. Would he get to learn how to use weapons? Like Tessa's sabre?

He bursts into the room, more excited than he's ever been to work out.

His excitement plummets as he takes in the gym. He recognizes every piece of equipment here. It's just a normal work-out room, like the one at his regular school back on Earth.

Arwen chuckles from behind him. "You seem disappointed. What were you expecting? This is a training room for non-magic users."

"Well yeah, but, we're still at a magic school. I expected more. I'm pretty sure my brothers have more equipment than this in their bedrooms back home." He walks over to the weights in the corner. The highest dumbbell is only thirty pounds. He sighs, crosses his arms, and leans against the wall.

"The stuff my brothers and I use is better than all this too, but we could always ask Ro and Cas to get us better equipment." She walks over to a large black mat on the side of the room. "They haven't had non-magic people here in a long time. That's why most of this stuff is so outdated."

"What's so special about us then? Why do we get to be here if we can't control time or space?"

"I don't think we're the special ones. Did you see the way Joe and Tess were acting at dinner tonight? Their meeting with Ro and Cas must have been bad, and their future must be bad enough that they're allowed to bring an emotional support team with them."

"Whatever it is, it can't be that bad." Fred joins Arwen on the mat where she's already begun to stretch. He does the same.

She shrugs in response. "I just can't help but feel like we have a long summer ahead of us."

They stretch in silence for a few more minutes. Finally, Fred jumps back to his feet. He sways back and forth, like a video game character waiting to strike. "All right, coach. What's first? You gonna teach me how to roundhouse-kick someone? Or do a judo-flip? Oh! How about an ax kick?" With each question, he strikes out at the air, like he's fighting an enemy only he can see.

Arwen shakes her head and remains seated. "How about we start with a simple punch?"

He stills. "A punch? I can throw a punch. I have two older brothers who pick on me all the time."

"Show me how you throw a punch then."

"On you?"

"How about you use the practice dummy that's right behind you instead?" She points over his shoulder to a large black fighting dummy. Like everything else in the room, it's fairly basic and has no arms or legs. The head is also bent at a weird angle, showing its wear.

"Oh, right." Fred blushes and turns to the dummy instead. Of course, Arwen wouldn't want to actually fight him. After seeing what she did to the drake in Caelus, he has to admit, he's kind of relieved.

He hears her get to her feet behind him. She moves to stand directly beside him and faces him. Her eyes do a quick scan up and down his body. Not even remotely in a flirtatious way like he's used to from the girls at school back in Brooklyn. This look is purely analytical. He can tell she's already judging his posture and technique.

"Well? Punch away."

Fred notices Arwen smirking at him from the corner of his eye. He scoffs, ready to show her up. He was insulted that this was all she was asking him to do. His skills were way above this. Throwing a punch was something he'd mastered a long time ago when learning to survive his brothers' torment.

He shifts his weight back on one foot, pulls his elbow far behind his head, pauses for dramatic effect, and then lets loose on the dummy. He strikes it directly in the chest.

And forces himself not to let out a pained cry.

Why did that hurt so much? This dummy was made out of rubber, not concrete. He bites his lip and lowers his fist, hoping that it isn't swelling up as much as it feels like it is. "See?" he manages to get out without too much whimpering. "Punching is easy."

Arwen's hand is covering her mouth. Fred can tell from her shaking that she's trying not to laugh, and failing miserably.

She takes a deep breath before dropping her hand, calming her giggles. "Be honest. How badly does your hand hurt right now?"

"Not at all."

"Really?"

"Yup."

She raises an eyebrow at him, one hand falling to her hip. "If you want me to teach you how to fight, you need to at least respect me enough to be open and honest with me."

"Oh, like you girls have been so open and honest with us?" The comment slips out before Fred can help it. The pain in his hand and annoyance at Arwen for laughing at him makes his words harsher than he means. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's fine." Her face closes off again. Whatever progress they had made towards friendship is gone.

"No, really. I know Joe's been a pain in the ass about all this. Maybe he's just rubbing off on me. I don't think you girls are _that_ bad."

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Um…" Fred rubs the back of his neck. "You guys have been coming off as _kind of_ stuck-up. I know you're way ahead of us with all this magic stuff, but it would be nice if you helped us be more like you rather than shutting us down all the time. We have a lot to learn to catch up to you, so why not get us there quicker, and then we can all learn together."

She squints her eyes at him. "That's… unexpectedly thoughtful and smart of you."

"Well, I play a lot of sports. Teamwork is kind of my thing." His hands drop to his sides. "Maybe we all should start fresh. Just forget what happened last summer and move on."

Arwen chuckles and shakes her head. "I think too much happened last summer for that to work, but it's a nice thought. Look, I meant what I said earlier. I want to train with you. It would be really nice to have someone else be the muscle for the group every once in a while, but I also meant it when I said you need to be honest with me. I can't help you otherwise."

"Seems like we need to make a compromise then. You'll quit acting like you're better than me, and I'll be honest next time I break my hand. Deal?" He holds his swollen hand out for her to shake, a grin spreading over his lips.

"Deal." Arwen laughs and grabs his hand, not to shake, but to inspect the damage. She lets out a low whistle. "Damn, you really did a number on yourself."

"Will I live, doc?"

"Only if we amputate it immediately."

The two teens laugh, breaking up the last bits of tension in the room. When they finally manage to settle down, Arwen tells Fred to reposition himself in front of the dummy. He does as he's told and lines up to strike again.

"Freeze." Arwen moves in close to readjust Fred's form. The scent of her perfume fills his nose. She may look boyish, but she definitely smelled like a girl, and not like the cheap body sprays the girls at school wore. She wore a rich, intoxicating perfume. The kind he imagined supermodels or heiresses wore.

She moves behind him. For the first time, Fred realizes that she is actually taller than him, not by much, but enough for this whole situation to become somewhat embarrassing for him.

"Lower your arm and hold it here." She moves his elbow down. "And twist your heel out. You need to punch with your whole body, not just your arm." She fixes his posture with ease, like she's done this a thousand times before.

"Where did you learn all this anyway?" Fred holds the new position she put him in. He has to admit, it feels a lot more natural this way.

"Well, I have eight older brothers."

"So you had to learn to fight to survive?" He understood that. It was the same thing he had dealt with growing up.

"Not exactly." She continues to make minor adjustments to Fred's stance. "Even though my oldest brother, Ryan, is twice my age, we've always been pretty close. We had our scraps like any siblings, but we never beat up each other just for fun."

_Must be nice_, Fred thinks to himself.

"I learned to fight because the twins, Riley and Richie, were getting picked on a lot at school. They've always been the pacifist type, so someone had to learn to stand up for them. I took a couple of classes, showed up to their school one day, and put those bullies in their place. My mom was furious," Arwen shrugs, but a gleam in her eye reveals how she really feels about it, "but the twins haven't been picked on since. And it turns out, fighting is _really_ fun.

"So when Tessa asked me to come to Horae Manor with her, I immediately said yes. A chance to train with warriors and fight magical beasts? How could I say no? Of course, just like you, I was disappointed when I realized that wasn't the case."

"Aside from fighting magical beasts," he adds.

She grins. "Aside from that, yeah. But in order to fight them, you have to do a lot of research. You have to learn about their weaknesses and any special abilities they may have. Fighting people is way easier as long as they can't use magic. Then all the rules change."

He cringes. Studying isn't exactly his favourite pastime. Why can't he learn as he fights his way through the magic world? He'd figure out pretty quickly how to take down any monster. Then he remembers the acid flying out of the drake's mouth, and how it burned through marble and stone. Maybe a little research would help.

"Okay. This is how you should stand when you're about to punch something. Feel it?"

Fred settles into the stance. "I think so."

"You'll definitely feel the difference when you punch the dummy this time. Now, when you're striking out make sure you use your whole body. It adds more momentum and makes the punch way more powerful, but once you make contact, stop your fist and pull it back into you. Watch me."

Arwen stands in the same position as Fred. She pulls her arm back and swings at the dummy, hitting it square in the jaw. She pulls her arm back without any whimpering or hand swelling.

"Now you try." She steps out of the way. "Oh, and don't punch someone in the chest. Focus on the weaker spots like their chin or throat."

Fred stands like he was taught, pulls back, and lets loose. His fist strikes the dummy in the throat this time, and he quickly pulls his hand back in front of him. His hand still hurts, but nowhere near as bad as it did after the first punch.

"Better?" Arwen crosses her arms and smirks at him.

"So much better." Fred smiles back. "What else have you got for me, coach?"


	5. Chapter 5

**"Upon further analysis, the bodies of a magician and a mortal differ greatly on a physiological level. Magicians seem to be built with an internal armor to prevent any magic from harming them or worse. It is just a theory, but putting magic in the body of a mortal could result in not only extreme damage to the body but a complete deterioration of the mind as well. More experiments are needed. I also need to obtain a Great Wizard cadaver for further study." - from the recordings of Dr. Jacobi Hyde, Alchemist**

* * *

"That is a lot of books." Sam blows out a low whistle, his eyes scanning up and down the long rows of bookshelves. He can only see the first row, beyond that, the room is dark and endless. The library at Horae Manor could rival the Library of Congress.

Juniper shrugs, letting her hair fall into her face. "I guess."

"You guess? They must have a copy of every book on Earth in here." He stares at her with wide eyes.

"Earth, Mancika, and every other known world out there." She mutters and walks over to a nearby table where she takes a seat, pulling out a few notebooks as she does. "Books just never interested me much."

"I'm sorry, what?" Sam raises an eyebrow at her. "I thought you loved learning."

"_I do_. I just think there's a lot more to learn in the real world than in some books. If you want to nerd out about books with someone, talk to Arwen. She reads all the time. Tessa does too, though she'd never admit to it." Pretending like Sam's not even there, or perhaps hoping he'll leave, June clicks her pen and begins to write in her notebooks, occasionally referencing a book laid out before her.

Sam's not used to being called a nerd by someone he assumed was, well, also a nerd. He'd followed June to the library hoping to have some intelligent conversations with the only other person here who seemed to want to understand more about how all this magic stuff worked. At least he knows where the library is now so he can come in and study on his own if he needed to.

He grabs a random book off the shelf closest to him, _A History of the Horae Greats_ by Petra Abell. He takes a seat across from Juniper, who's quickly flipping through the pages of her notebooks as if searching for something. He glances down at her work. "For someone who's not that into reading, you seem pretty invested in those books. Are those the ones you stole from Caelus last summer?"

She jumps as if she had already forgotten he was there. In the process, she manages to get a paper cut on her finger, dripping bright red blood onto the page. She curses and holds her finger close. Glaring at him, she says, "Maybe."

Sam peers closer, and June responds by shutting the books in his face. "What language is that?" he asks, oblivious to the fact that she is clearly trying to keep them to herself. He only caught a quick glimpse of the writing, but it isn't any language he recognized. In fact, most of it didn't even resemble words, just different shapes and symbols.

"Can't you find somewhere else to read?" she keeps glaring at him, hoping he'll get the hint. "These journals are private."

"Oh, um." He looks around at all the other empty tables. "I guess." He slides his chair away from the table and moves to a new spot farther down. He can still see Juniper from here, but he'd have to shout to talk to her.

Satisfied, June returns to her work. Reluctantly, Sam slips into his book. He's sucked in quicker than he expects. Each chapter seems to be about a different pair of Warp and Aether Wizards, except for one titled _The Pair that Never Was_ that is only one page long. There's even a chapter on Rowena and Cassius. He's tempted to skip ahead and read about them, but the final chapter of the book catches his eye, _The Unnamed Pair_. If the chapters progress chronologically, that would mean the last chapter is about Joe and Tessa. But that didn't make any sense. How could someone write about them when they had barely begun their training? Who even knew about them yet?

He flips through the pages until he gets to chapter eighty-two, the final chapter. There is only one paragraph.

_At this time, the Eighty-Second Pair is rising to power, the youngest wizards to begin training for Greatness. Not much is known about them at this time. Their mentors (see Chapter Eighty-One: The Twins) are keeping tight-lipped about any and all details. This is understandable given the pair's destiny. No other Great Wizard has faced such a daunting quest as theirs: to preserve or destroy life as we know it._

Sam yelps and shoves the book away from him. No way that's true. How could some random author know so much about Joe and Tessa? But could that explain why they were both acting so weird at dinner? Did Cas and Ro tell them their destiny? He shakes his head to clear his thoughts. He'd have to ask Joe about this later.

"You okay?" June's question catches him off-guard.

"What?" Sam blinks at her, confused by her concern. Didn't she hate him five minutes ago? "I'm fine." He hoped his face looked calmer than he felt.

"You just screamed at a book and threw it away. That's like, the opposite of fine."

He eyes the book on the ground. He gently picks it up and walks back over to June. He places it on the table as gently as if it were a bomb. "That book is magic."

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah. We're at a magic school. Most of the stuff in here is magic."

"No, look." He flips to the chapter that scared him. "There's a chapter in here about Joe and Tessa. It says that they're destined to either "preserve or destroy life as we know it." How could a book possibly know that? How could this author even know about them? They've only been together for a year!"

Despite all of Sam's pointing and practically shoving the book in June's face, she ignores the words before her. "I think you already answered that question. Magic, duh."

He frowns. Sam is a man of science and all this magic stuff just made no sense to him, which was a new sensation. Even time travel was possible in theory and was something he could wrap his head around. He was used to being the smartest kid in the room, already knowing everything that was in the textbook before they even discussed it in class. He could do college-level calculus and even made inventions in his spare time. Magic simply did not fit into his world of ones and zeros.

"Doesn't Joe own a magic book? Why are you so weirded out by _this_ book?" She doesn't look at him when she speaks. She simply toys with the pen in her hand and keeps her focus on her books.

He can't argue with her there.

He looks back at the page and notices a blinking line just below the paragraph about his friends. Like a computer cursor waiting to type out more letters. Is this book being written in real-time?

He slams it shut and places it back on the shelf where he found it. He'd met his weirdness quota for the day.

Forgetting Juniper's earlier protests, Sam takes the seat right across from her again. "How do you deal with all this magic stuff?"

She sighs and sets down her pen, realizing that she's not getting any research done tonight. "I told you last summer, magic is a form of science. Just because you don't understand it, doesn't make it any less real." She fans her arms out around her. "I'm sure there are plenty of books in here that will help you adjust to this new world. Why don't you grab a few to look over?"

Sam glances at the long rows of books, unsure where to start. None of the shelves have any labels to indicate how everything is organized, not that he would understand the subject material anyway. He doubted any of the books would be called "Magic for Dummies" or "So You're a Mortal in a Magic World". Which just means he has to search deep if he wants to find anything helpful.

He gets to his feet and begins to scan the shelves for any books or resources that might help him. He could spend a month in here and still not see everything. He'd have to check and see if there was some sort of cataloging system somewhere. Surely, a library this large would have some way to find specific resources.

After a few minutes, he returns to the table with four books. Just from looking at the titles, he already has a handful of questions.

Without thinking about it, he starts to fire them off at Juniper, waving and slicing his hands through the air with each question. "So, if there's an entire magical world out there, why are there magic users on Earth? Or are Joe and Tessa the only ones? If they are the only ones, why were they chosen? Can anyone learn to do magic? And if magic is really a science like you say, then it has to abide by the laws of physics. But everything I've seen has broken all of those laws. Unless, of course, magic is operating on a quantum scale, but that just causes even more confusion."

His eyes zero in on hers and frowns, not understanding why she hasn't responded yet.

Juniper blinks, giving Sam a slightly fearful expression. She twists her hair around her fingers. "I didn't think anyone's brain worked that fast. You're kind of unsettling, you know that?"

He falls back in his chair, blushing. Though to be fair, he's hardly the weirder one here. Juniper's the one who talked about magic as if it were part of everyday life. Which, he supposed, it is for him now. And what's with those odd notebooks she keeps hiding from him? Whatever is written inside of them is not "normal".

June drops her hair in front of her eyes. "I can't answer your questions if you ask a hundred of them at the same time."

Sam stills and studies her out of the corner of his eye. Was she really going to help him out of all his confusion?

"It sounds like your main question is how is magic a science?" She peers at him through the thick strands of her dark hair.

He mutely nods, still not sure if she's going to give a sincere response or not. She had proven to only be annoyed by him so far. He'd been bullied enough times at school to know that not all kindness was genuine.

"Okay." She takes a deep breath, pushes her hair back, and leans forward. "Magic follows the most important law: energy can neither be created nor destroyed. All magic is energy conversion. From what I've studied so far, magicians and wizards, real ones, not the kind you hire for a kid's birthday party, are born with an innate connection to the universe that the rest of us don't have. They can take energy from different aspects or elements of the universe, like time or space, and through their bodies convert that into something new. Make sense?"

She spoke with calm conviction, like a professor giving a lecture on their area of expertise. What she said did make sense, but it still left him with a million questions.

"I guess, but to be honest this all sounds like fake science. Like something a person who believes in astrology or energy crystals would say." He scratches his chin and begins to skim through the pages of one of his books, slowly falling into the sense of comfort academic debate gave him. "Am I supposed to believe all of that is real too?"

"Not all of it, but some of it. There are definitely wizards out there who can heal through crystals. Though most of the people who claim to be able to do it on Earth are full of it and are just looking to scam customers. Genuine magic users are rare. Most of them prefer to live in Mancika or one of the other magic kingdoms since they don't have to hide what they are there."

"Have you been to any of those places?" Suddenly, the girls' advanced experience with magic feels intimidating.

June shakes her head. "No, but I've seen pictures and maps. Mancika in particular looks beautiful. It's the current magic capital of the universe, like what Cealus used to be. It's perfectly designed to represent each kind of magic equally. There are schools for wizards to study and hone their crafts. There's even a stadium there for magical tournaments and fights." She sighs wistfully, staring off at nothing and absentmindedly taps a page in her notebook. The blood from her earlier cut is splattered on the page. "I would love to see it someday."

"Me too," Sam says without thinking. It catches him off-guard, but the more he thinks about it, the more he likes the idea of seeing a magic city in person. He would definitely get all the answers to his questions, and he'd be able to research all sorts of new things too.

"Really?" She looks at him, doubt written all over her face. The statement caught her off-guard too. "No offense, but I think we've already established you're more of a reader than a doer."

"I think everyone learns better when they have a live demonstration."

As if on cue, something crashes to the ground in the rows of bookshelves behind them. A round of groans soon follows.

Sam shrinks back. "What was that?"

"Your live demonstration." Juniper stares down at the spot in the book she was tapping and doesn't hesitate any longer. She hops to her feet and walks towards the sound, quickly disappearing in the tall lines of knowledge.

When she doesn't immediately come back or call out, Sam reluctantly gets to his feet and follows her deeper into the library. Fortunately, or maybe not so much, he's able to catch up to her.

"Are we really doing this?"

"_We_? I want to know what made that noise. You're cowering behind me like Chicken Little." June shrugs Sam's hands off her shoulders. "Don't think I've forgotten how scared you were last summer."

"You mean when you jumped into a cave because you heard imaginary voices?" he retorts. "I think that's a perfectly reasonable excuse to be afraid."

"I know what I heard," she mumbles under her breath and pushes ahead, away from him.

He stumbles to keep up. "And what do you plan to do when you find whatever made that noise?"

June shrugs. "I don't know? Make sure it's okay? That crash sounded painful."

The suggestion surprises Sam. His immediate reaction had been to run away, but maybe she was right. What if it was a person who made that sound? And what if they were hurt? He moves to walk beside June rather than behind her.

They reach the site of the crash and find a shattered globe and a couple of books on the ground. No blood in sight, but a few more scattered books lay on the ground further down the row.

June pushes on, going further and further down the shelves. "Hello?"

No response.

"Hello?" she tries again. Still no response.

"Maybe whoever did it ran away? We could search inside the library for hours and still not have seen half of it. We can't spend all night in here trying to find whoever made that mess." Sam picks up his pace to catch up to Juniper. "June? Are you listening to me?"

He can see the tension in her jaw, the way her eyes scan the floor, searching for any clues as to where the intruder or beast went. She had made a complete transformation. Where the shy girl who hid behind her hair he was talking to just a few minutes ago? "June?"

She comes to a sudden stop. "_Shh_. Did you hear that?"

At first, Sam can't hear anything. He waits a few more moments. Still, he doesn't hear any noise. He takes an unsteady step away from June. "I don't hear anything." The intense look in her eyes makes him uneasy.

"There it is again! This way!" She grabs him by the arm and pulls him down another endless row.

Sam's beginning to have flashbacks to the previous summer in Cealus. These rows of books remind him too much of the catacombs under that ancient city, and he wouldn't be surprised if they stumbled upon skeletons in here either. What noise is June hearing?

They fly through the library. Rounding corner after corner, until Sam isn't sure where they are or how to get back to their study table. He lets June drag him to the end of the row before pulling away.

"Stop!" he pants. "Where are we going? And what exactly did you hear?"

June's momentum carries her farther down the path before she comes to a stop. "It was the same voices from last summer. Someone else is in here. We can't let them get away from us. I _need_ to know what they're saying."

"You don't even know what they're saying?"

"I- no. Whatever it is, it isn't English. I need to find them. Stay here if you want." She turns and runs off once more.

"June, wait!" Sam takes off after her.

He quickly loses sight of her, but he can hear footsteps slamming into the floor in the next row over. He takes a sharp left and catches a glimpse of her black hair flying around the corner just ahead of him. He tries his best to catch her, but running was much more Fred's thing than his. Gradually, he begins to slow down.

Just as he's starting to lose hope, he spots Juniper in front of him. She's far away, but she's no longer running. Sam jogs to her. More relieved to stop running than anything else.

"What were you thinking?" he manages to breathe out. "You just left me back there. Who knows how long it would have taken me to find my way out."

He swallows one more gulp of air before noticing that they stopped back at their study table, how still June is, and most importantly, that they are no longer alone.

A man who looks like a Gregorian monk stands over Juniper's notebooks, peering down, but not touching them. Well, 'stands' doesn't really describe it. More like floats over. There is a clear gap between his feet and the floor. And if that wasn't weird enough, Sam could see right through him.

The monk lifts his head, finally noticing the kids. His gaze focuses in on June.

The temperature of the room plummets as a pressure builds behind Sam's eyes, nearly knocking him down. His knees threaten to buckle beneath him, but as much as he wants to, he cannot move. Some invisible force holds him down, and he can't look away from the man.

The man says nothing, merely nods his head, and turns to leave, quickly disappearing among the stacks of books.

Several minutes pass before the pressure in Sam's head fades and he can move again. "Nope," he says, shaking his head rapidly. "No, thank you. _No_."

He grabs June by the arm and drags her out of the library. She doesn't protest, apparently still under the ghost's spell.

Ghost. That's what it was. No other word for it. Sam had just seen a ghost. Even after all the insane things he, Joe, and Fred had been through and seen together, the confirmation that ghosts exist is just too much for him. He wants nothing to do with it, and he can't let June get caught up in it either. Especially not after the way it looked at her like it knew her. Even if they aren't technically friends, getting her away from that library and the monster inside it is simply the right thing to do.

What is in those notebooks? It must be important because June wasn't letting them out of her sight. But what could be written down that would attract the attention of a ghost? Nothing good, surely.

They make it all the way to the entrance hall before Juniper says anything.

She tears her arm away from Sam. Her mouth is pressed into a thin line, and he can tell she wants to yell at him, but the words just aren't coming to her.

"Why did you do that?" She finally manages to get out. "Now I have to go all the way back to the library to get my notebooks."

"You can't go back." He stares at her with wide eyes. "That ghost-thing was going to hurt us."

"No, he wasn't. He walked- _err_, floated away." June promptly spins on her heels to head back to the library. "And you heard what he said. I can't just walk away from him."

"What he said? He didn't say anything. What are you talking about?"

She pauses, letting her hair fall into her face. "Well… I guess it isn't so much what he said. I just, know what he wants."

Sam can tell she's lying even without seeing her face, but he's not brave enough to question her about it. If she says she didn't hear the ghost, then she didn't hear the ghost.

"I have to get my books back. Next time you see me studying, please leave me alone."

Sam doesn't even have time to protest as June makes her way out of the entrance hall and back to the library. Well, if June wouldn't listen to him, hopefully, she'd listen to her friends or even Rowena and Cassius. Surely, they would help him. Did they even know they had ghosts living in their mansion?

He nods to himself, deciding to bring it up tomorrow at breakfast to everyone. Until then, he would hide out in his room for the evening. He'd had enough strangeness for one night.


End file.
